Minimal securing safeguards exist for transport of bulk foodstuffs such as milk, orange juice, liquid sugar, eggs, grains, and the like. Indeed, conventional methods for securing bulk foodstuffs during transport are highly paper-intensive and prone to error. It is recognized in the transport sector that a need exists for methods and systems for securing bulk foods during transport which both reduce recording errors and enable normal transport activities to proceed, while at the same time providing security against unauthorized access to such bulk foodstuffs.
Large batch size, rapid turnaround at retail, rapid consumption, thorough mixing of multiple batches from multiple sources during processing, and high accessibility at various stages of transport are all hallmarks of a high-risk food items, which typically must be transported in bulk. Loaded and unloaded transport vehicles for bulk foodstuffs are routinely left unattended and may be left in unsecured and/or unsupervised areas. Many of these unsecured and unsupervised areas, such as for example farms, remote transfer points, hauling company property, and vehicle driver residences, are secluded and easily accessible to individuals having malicious intent. Even more, the combination of multiple sources, batch mixing, the requirement for bulk transport, and the nature of the foodstuff itself often prevent individual item or batch labeling and/or tracking of particular items or batches of foodstuffs for security purposes.
Using the dairy industry as an example, security measures employed by bulk transporters such as milk transportation companies typically comprise voluntary seal programs including use of plastic, numbered seals applied to milk transport tank openings. Often, such seals are not tamper-evident, that is, the seals may be tampered with (to access the contents being transported) in a manner that would not be easily discovered. In such conventional systems, seal number identifiers are recorded by hand as they are applied to the transport tank openings, which raise one potential situation for introduction of error. As seals are broken during routine transportation activities, seal numbers are accumulated. Some transportation companies require that broken seals be maintained. However, such systems provide yet additional opportunities for introduction of error, in that the human element is prone to record keeping errors. In addition, maintaining broken seals is burdensome and time-consuming, since it is common to have numerous broken seals for a single bulk load of milk.
Even more, conventional record keeping practices in the dairy industry provide for handwritten bulk milk records. The level of detail associated with records kept with each load of milk is inconsistent and prone to inaccuracy, again due to the human element. Proper records maintenance is critical to allow adequate trace-back of milk in the event of adulteration or potential adulteration. Conventional practice at the producer (dairy farm) level is to maintain handwritten records, commonly referred to as a “barn ticket.” Pertinent information relating to each producer is maintained within these records. As is the case for recordkeeping when using numbered seals, such “barn ticket” records are error-prone. For example, due to the environment in which such “barn tickets” are kept and inconsistencies from one records-keeper to the next, legibility is often a concern. Recording errors, mathematical errors, and loss of entire portions of particular records are commonplace.
There has accordingly been identified a need in the art for an effective security monitoring system for use in foodstuff transport, particularly a system applicable to bulk foodstuff transport. The system should be efficient, effective, and applicable to the strictures of existing networks and trade channels established by foodstuff producers, transporters, and processors.